<b>Harlem Shuffle</b> is the story of Ray Carney. Being the son of a crook, he strives to lead an upstanding life as the owner of a furniture store in Harlem. He is happily married with children and has goals for their life such as owning a house on Riverside Drive. Everything is going well until unknown to Ray, his cousin Freddie volunteers him as the fence for a heist. I was not familiar with the term fence being someone who moves stolen goods, so that was an interesting fun fact to learn.

Based on the synopsis, I was really expecting the heists to be a major part of the story, but they actually are not. Unfortunately, going into this book with that expectation probably played a part in my rating of the book. This book focuses on Ray and his internal struggle between his wants/goals and the slippery slope of what he needs to do to get there.

I found the pacing inconsistent and the story at times moves quite slowly. This book is told in 3 parts: 1959, 1961, and 1964. I found the time jumps to be jarring to the point that the story seemed disjointed and confusing in parts. There are so many minor characters to keep track of in this book, and the author went into a lot of detail regarding their backstory which didn't necessarily serve the story in any way. That being said, my favorite character was Pepper. I wanted more of him and always looked forward to his return to the story.

Colson Whitehead is a wordsmith and a very talented author, and I like that he moves fluidly between genres. His writing in this book painted a very vivid picture of living in 1960s Harlem. I've only read one other book by this author and really enjoyed it, so I look forward to catching up on some of his previous books. 3 stars.

Many thanks to Doubleday and Netgalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Ray Carney has a foot in both worlds, and he isn’t given to thinking too deeply about that. As the son of a badass criminal, he considers that he has turned out quite respectably; yet, when Cousin Freddie occasionally brings a consignment piece of jewelry to his store, he doesn’t ask many questions about its history. Thus begins a slow, steady slide, from being a mostly-straight retailer, to a mostly-crooked fence. But oh, what a glorious story it makes!

My thanks go to Doubleday and Net Galley for the invitation to read and review. You can buy this book now.
The first time I read Colson Whitehead was when The Underground Railroad was published five years ago. It was unquestionably a work of genius, but it was also a fair amount of work to read. Then The Nickel Boys came out, and when I finally found a copy, it was well written yet so harsh that I thanked my lucky stars that it wasn’t a review copy, and I gave myself permission to abandon it. So thus far, my admiration for this author has been tempered by the awareness that I would need to roll up my sleeves, or to brace myself, or both.

Harlem Shuffle contains none of that. It’s told in linear fashion, beginning in the late 1950s and ending in the late 1960s. The writing is first rate, as one might anticipate, but it’s also an unmitigated pleasure to read.
Our protagonist, Carney, has married up. His beautiful wife Elizabeth comes from a family with lighter skin, higher social position, and a good deal more money. Elizabeth loves him, but she has expectations. As his young family grows to include a son and daughter, the pressure increases. But let’s not kid ourselves; this isn’t just about Carney supporting his family:

“If he got a thrill out of transforming these ill-gotten goods into legit merchandise, a zap-charge in his blood like he’d plugged into a socket, he was in control of it and not the other way around. Dizzying and powerful as it was. Everyone had secret corners and alleys that no one else saw…The thing inside him that gave a yell or tug or shout now and again was not the same thing his father had. The sickness drawing every moment into its service…Carney had a bent to his personality, how could he not, growing up with a father like that. You had to know your limits as a man and master them…His intent was bent but he was mostly straight, deep down.”

Freddie comes to Carney with a plan: he and his confederates intend to rob the Hotel Theresa, which is the pride of Harlem, the place to stay for Negro patrons of breeding and taste. It was almost sacrilege; and yet, it would also be a fantastic take. Would Ray Carney put out some feelers to find out who could move the sorts of valuable baubles that might be found in the hotel safe? Ray tells him of course not. No no no no no. A thousand times no! And then, he commences doing exactly that.

There are several aspects of this tale that make it exceptional. Whitehead resists the amateurish urge to fall back on pop culture of the period, instead imparting the culture and the pressures of the time more subtly. Racism against Negroes (the acceptable term of the time) by Caucasians; racism by light-skinned Negroes against darker ones, such as Carney; cop violence against all of them; the difficulty faced by Harlem merchants that want to carry first-class products but must first persuade snooty Caucasian company representatives; protection rackets endemic to Harlem, run by Negro criminals as well as cops, so that envelopes had to be passed to multiple representatives every month; and a plethora of other obstacles, stewed into the plot seamlessly, never resembling a manifesto. There’s Whitehead’s matchless ability to craft his characters, introducing each with a sketch so resonant that I had to reread them before moving on; highlight them; then go back and read them a third time after I’d finished the book. My favorite secondary character is Pepper, an older thug so terrifying that even the cops wince when they’re near him. And then there are brief shifts in point of view, and again, my favorite of these is Pepper’s.

Carney isn’t a brilliant decision maker, but he is an underdog, and he’s a survivor as well, and both of these things make me cheer him on. I haven’t had so much fun in a long damn time. When events escalate, Carney finds himself rolling a corpse into a fine carpet, and I can only hope that he chose a relatively cheap rug, because otherwise, what a waste!

Those that love the genre mustn’t miss this book, filled with everything anyone could ever want in a noir-style crime novel. Do it, do it, do it!

Ray Carney is a man stuck between a rock and a hard place. Trying to overcome his father's criminal legacy, Carney strives to support his family with a furniture business. But times are tough, and scary in 1960's Harlem, and he has a wayward cousin to keep an eye on. Ray feels he is an honest man who is forced to keep on foot on the other side of the line and this tension runs throughout the story. No other character is as well defined and I love how deep we get into his character as we follow along through the various events of his dual life. I will think of Ray every night when I remind myself it isn't insomnia, it is dorvay.

Harlem Shuffle by Colton Whitehead provides a social and historical glimpse into life in 1960s Harlem. Told from the perspective of Ray Carney who’s married to Elizabeth, now expecting their second child, it focuses on Ray’s goal of upward social mobility. Elizabeth’s parents look down on Ray whose father was a crook, but Ray has ambitions; he attended college, owns a furniture store, and plans to move into a better neighborhood. It all looks good, but Ray also dabbles in small time crime, accepting questionable products, fencing a few pieces to get ahead,. When his cousin Freddie involves him in some big time crime, Ray must find a way to navigate the dangers that come with mobsters, corrupt cops, and corrupt politicians. Unique writing with unusual descriptive phases makes this a pleasure to read, but following the plot proves challenging at times. The pace picks up towards the end as Ray tries to survive all the forces that seem to conspire against a man trying to succeed in a white privileged world.

Where some fine novelists may content themselves with revisiting the same settings, characters, and plots, Colson Whitehead challenges himself and his readers with every novel. <i>Harlem Shuffle</i>, Colson’s most recent novel, explores the turbulent Harlem of the late 1950s and early 1960s, bookended by the riots of 1943 and 1964. <i>Harlem Shuffle</i> is a noir crime caper sandwiching Colson’s commentary about the varied cultures and society of mid-century Harlem, increasingly stressed by official corruption and the burgeoning drug trade. For lovers of New York and Harlem’s rich history, Colson reminds us of famous and not-so-famous landmarks, some remaining, some transformed, and some disappeared: Mount Morris Park, Hotel Dumas, Hotel Theresa, Strivers’ Row, the old diamond district on Canal Street, among others. Ray Carney, <i>Harlem Shuffle</i>’s nuanced protagonist, embodies the ambiguities and discordances of the era. <i>Harlem Shuffle</i> is rich in atmospherics, but for this reader the atmospherics sometimes enhanced and sometimes detracted from the plot and the characters, leaving me to wonder whether the crime caper was sandwiching the atmospherics or whether the atmospherics were sandwiching the crime caper.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Doubleday for providing me with an ARC in exchange for a review.

Once again, Colson Whitehead proves that he can conquer any genre. With Harlem Shuffle, he takes on the caper/crime novel schema and employs his amazing talent to elevate it from its typical genre fiction roots to true literary fiction. This book is multifaceted, incorporating incisive social commentary and true historical events. It’s enveloping and time-spanning plot compels readers to face and acknowledge some uncomfortable truths. This time, Whitehea’s main character is Ray Carney, an ambitious business owner in 1950s Harlem. He is a dedicated family man who strives to achieve the best he can within the limits placed on him. Ray also happens to be a criminal who uses his furniture store as a front for dealing in stolen items. Due to his seedy upbringing and criminal experiences from his past, Ray has inside knowledge of Harlem’s underbelly. This double identity helps support his family, although they know nothing about it. Ray is forced to lean more heavily on his crooked side in order to protect his feckless cousin Freddy. When Freddie pulls off an especially foolhardy heist, he and Ray become targets for some influential people of the Park Avenue crowd. This time, he needs to tightrope between his two identities in order protect all that he has built. As Ray’s interior conflict rages, the escalating riots and looting in the background mirror his turmoil. A flawed but sympathetic character, Ray’s flexible moral compass is a consequence of the surrounding systemic racism. Whitehead points out how the resulting dichotomies reflect a lack of choice—a reality that forces some to bend the law in order to thrive. Ray becomes a crook because society does not permit him to achieve his desires and goals without doing so. Written with great wit and style, Harlem Shuffle is a perfectly paced and engrossing novel. It underscores Whitehead’s prodigious talent for blending strong social commentary with pure entertainment.

Thanks to the author, Doubleday and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an unbiased review.

Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
Doubleday
I enjoyed this book immensely. It was extremely evocative of the time and place. It seemed to me to bring Harlem of the mid 20th century to life and I felt I could be a fly on the wall. Okay, so Carney was a little bit, maybe more than a little bit, bent but he tried so hard and loved his family so much, cared for his employees and he was just kind of a lovable guy.
And another plus, it hardly made me cry at all, which I cannot say for some of his previous books. It kind of made me think of the Leonid McGill series by Walter Mosley. In fact, I wish there would be a sequel to this book.
Four resounding loved it stars.

REVIEW: ⭐⭐⭐
I was so interested to read Colson Whitehead's newest novel for a couple of reasons. First, I loved the Underground Railroad and have The Nickel Boys on my shelf and secondly, because I like to immerse myself in a world that is different than mine. The only experience I have had in Harlem is running through it in the NY Marathon. I feel like each time I read a novel about things I have little knowledge, I can only grow and gain perspective. I feel like this book gave me new understanding of the people of Harlem in the 60s. That being said, I struggled through this book. I listened and had the digital copy in front of me, but could not get into it...there was something missing. I do appreciate Whitehead's beautiful words and descriptions...I truly felt Harlem, just felt like the story moved around too much and didn't grip me. I really wanted this to be a 5 star read because I am a fan. I just wanted to be grabbed like I was in Underground Railroad...and I wasn't.

I practically tore through this book. The writing, the story, the interactions of the characters, the descriptions it was raw, and thoughtful and beautiful. It seems simple at times but is complex at the same time. I really enjoy the writing and the story and sat there thinking "if something happens to Carney I will lose it!"

I own The Nickel Boys but haven't read it yet, and that is going to have to be rectified soon after reading this.

The last couple of years, Fall has been a particularly busy reading season for me due to the fact that a lot of my favorite authors (or famed authors whose works I’ve been wanting to read but hadn’t gotten around to yet) release new books around this time and I end up scrambling in a harried attempt to get to each and every single one of those books — a feat that is 10 times more difficult with a full-time job and family obligations that oftentimes leave me with little time for myself. Yes, I know this is a self-inflicted bookworm problem (sorry / not sorry?) and I am by no means trying to elicit sympathy, it’s just that when I opened up my book tracking app today and saw that I this was only the fourth book I’ve finished out of a (wildly unrealistic) goal of 13 for this month (yes, you read that right — 13 books for the month of September), I felt the need to vent, if merely to just get it off my chest. Whew! Ok, back to the matter at hand…

The aforementioned 4th book (out of 13) that I just finished is Colson Whitehead’s newest release Harlem Shuffle. Whitehead is one of those famous authors whose works I’ve had on my TBR like forever, but for some reason or another, I haven’t been able to get around to reading those works. So when I was offered an ARC of Whitehead’s latest work, I of course jumped at the opportunity (even knowing his newest book would be markedly different from his previous ones). Going into this, I was excited to finally get the chance to “see what the hype was about” when it comes to this award-winning author. With that said though, while I did enjoy this one quite a bit and found it to be an excellent read in many aspects — the vivid, lyrical writing, the realistic and fleshed out characters, the wonderfully rendered atmosphere of 1950s / 1960s Harlem, witty and fun dialogue, the timeliness of the social commentary, etc. — what made this a 4 star read instead of 5 star is the fact that I wasn’t able to engage with the story as much as I thought I would, despite my best efforts. This is more a reflection of my own tastes rather than any issue with the book itself — namely that I’m not much of a reader of heist and gangster stories and while this wasn’t the entire focus of the story, I found it more difficult to connect with the story and therefore it was a much slower read for me. Regardless though, this was still a worthwhile read and one that I learned a lot from, especially with the historical fiction aspect and the masterful, atmospheric way that Whitehead captured the various nuances of Harlem and New York during that particular time period.

Though I wasn’t much engaged with the story, I did like most of the characters — even the main character Ray Carney with his sardonic wit as he struggles to keep the two sides of his life separate from each other. Overall, this was a solid 4 star read, a book that I highly recommend! I read an interview with the author last week where he mentioned that he is working on a sequel to this book that would follow Ray Carney into the 1970s era, which I definitely look forward to reading. In the meantime, I need to get with the program and go pickup Underground Railroad as well as The Nickel Boys and other books from Whitehead’s backlist. So many books, so little time!!

Received ARC from DoubleDay Books via NetGalley.

The tension between success, extended family commitments and community expectations is masterfully depicted in this novel about a furniture retailer and his side hustle.as a fence for stolen goods.

This is my first Colson Whitehead book, so I had pretty high expectations. The way the action is broken up is confusing; I found it hard to follow the plot amidst the various side anecdotes and flashbacks. Overall, though, I found it pulpy and fairly entertaining with a compelling cast of characters--it's also a great reminder of how enticing the promise of cash can be, even when it's only possible to obtain it via a convoluted heist.

⭐️⭐️💫

🛋 It’s Harlem in the 60s and Ray and his family are just trying to get by when his cousin continues to pull him into crime.

👍🏼The setting of this story was great and I enjoyed the characters. The writing was also very well done.

👎🏼Despite the beautiful writing, great setting and characters this story never took off for me. It was very slow and I kept waiting for this dramatic crime caper a la oceans 11 to happen and it never did.

❎I really wanted to love this book, but it just didn’t deliver to my expectations based on his previous books and the book description. The pacing seemed way too slow and it didn’t feel like anything really happened. If you like more expository writing you may enjoy this book because the setting descriptions really are great.

I have read Nickel Boys and Underground Railroad and this latest by Colson Whitehead did not disappoint. He is an amazing writer. I can’t wait for his next book. Highly recommended!

The writing is excellent and the descriptions of Harlem are vivid. There are so many characters, though, that it was hard to keep everyone straight. Or care. I couldn't relate to any of the characters or their experiences - it was all light-years away from anything I've ever experienced. I did have some sympathy for Ray who seemed to really want to go straight and have a normal family life - but his past and circumstances kept tugging him in another direction.

This book is described as crime fiction, but the crime is more contextual than a driver of the plot. Don’t expect a thriller. It’s about a man straddling two sides of business, a respected furniture store with some illegal activities mixed in, while trying to support his family in 1950-60s Harlem.

I have mixed feelings on this one. I didn’t find the plot as riveting as expected without the emotional punch. Some of the backstories were a touch drawn out and repetitive.

However, Harlem Shuffle absolutely holds true to Whitehead’s great writing style. He creates such interesting characters and I was particularly invested in the family drama layer to the story.

There’s SO much more to Harlem Shuffle than crime. If you want traditional crime fiction with a clear mystery to solve and a lot of action, this isn’t it. If you want an atmospheric story about loyalty, morality, and corruption, then you’ll probably love it.

Thank you NetGalley and Doubleday for the advanced copy! Colson Whitehead does it again! Harlem Shuffle read with a vibrant energy of the city and its people. This novel is set in 1960s New York at the height of the civil rights movement. It deals with under the table hustling, crooks and a corrupt society as Ray tries to keep his family afloat with his furniture business and running his cousin's loot through his own store. Ray has a constant internal struggle as he walks the line of helping the law and breaking the law, and it catches up to him.

Thank you for the opportunity to review “Harlem Shuffle,” the latest offering by Colson Whitehead. I am not at all surprised to have found this book engaging, well written, and compelling. Definitely in my top 10 for 2021.

I DNF'd at 40%. To me it is more of a collection of stories, not one cohesive story. Too many characters and back stories. I finally got to know the characters in part 1 and then part 2 has a whole new cast and have to get to know them again. Just not my style of writing.

Another winner from Colson Whitehead. His love letter to Harlem and heists is a great adventure. He transports you back to the height of Harlem’s golden years. Ray Carney is a complex man and likes to think of himself as a family man. It is his family that gets him wrapped into a heist. Being a middle man isn’t so easy.

I would love to see this as a movie. It would be brilliant.